Joe Person: Panthers will let Cade Mays test the free agent market

[strato]

1 minute ago, flagfootballcoach28 said:

Daniel Jeremiah was talking about the depth at center during the OL workouts. I've heard it a few other times as well while listening to draft podcasts. 

 Have listened to a few too, and they are kind of running together. 
I just hesitate to have confidence in a 3rd or 4th round rookie starting at C. 

[flagfootballcoach28]

4 minutes ago, strato said:

 Have listened to a few too, and they are kind of running together. 
I just hesitate to have confidence in a 3rd or 4th round rookie starting at C. 

I don't disagree. Morgan has had multiple chances to address center in the draft. It's finally catching up to him 

[strato]

In The Athletic today:

 

The Panthers will let all of their free agents test the market. The list includes running back Rico Dowdle, who will not be returning to Charlotte unless he finds little interest following back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The Panthers want to bring back a pair of offensive linemen — center Cade Mays and swing tackle Yosh Nijman, who would start while Ikem Ekwonu recovers from patellar tendon surgery. Mays is expected to land a deal in the $8 million-a-year range. Nijman would come considerably cheaper. Even if the Panthers re-sign Nijman, look for Morgan to draft an offensive lineman for the first time since replacing Scott Fitterer in 2024. A tackle is in play for the Panthers with the 19th pick. — Joseph Person

———-

I interpret that as saying they want to get Nijman in the fold and try to upgrade from him in the draft.  

Edited 9 hours ago by strato

[Jon Snow]

1 minute ago, strato said:

In The Athletic today:

 

The Panthers will let all of their free agents test the market. The list includes running back Rico Dowdle, who will not be returning to Charlotte unless he finds little interest following back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The Panthers want to bring back a pair of offensive linemen — center Cade Mays and swing tackle Yosh Nijman, who would start while Ikem Ekwonu recovers from patellar tendon surgery. Mays is expected to land a deal in the $8 million-a-year range. Nijman would come considerably cheaper. Even if the Panthers re-sign Nijman, look for Morgan to draft an offensive lineman for the first time since replacing Scott Fitterer in 2024. A tackle is in play for the Panthers with the 19th pick. — Joseph Person

I read the article on the Panthers page by Person about his take aways.  I was curious about the 3 players he chose to write about.

He chose Styles of course but everyone expects him to be off the board before pick 19 rolls around. The other 2 were Alabamas tackle and Auburns center. All 3 of those positions are arguably our top 3 needs. 

I'm too lazy to look into were the last 2 are projected to be drafted but if any of you are curious as well please let the rest of us lazy fugs know.

[bythenbrs]

34 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

I read the article on the Panthers page by Person about his take aways.  I was curious about the 3 players he chose to write about.

He chose Styles of course but everyone expects him to be off the board before pick 19 rolls around. The other 2 were Alabamas tackle and Auburns center. All 3 of those positions are arguably our top 3 needs. 

I'm too lazy to look into were the last 2 are projected to be drafted but if any of you are curious as well please let the rest of us lazy fugs know.

Drafting two future O-line starters on rookie contracts will do wonders for our distorted (obscene?) cap allocation to the O-line.  

Proctor (22)

Lew (54)

Edited 9 hours ago by bythenbrs

[Jon Snow]

48 minutes ago, bythenbrs said:

Drafting two future O-line starters on rookie contracts will do wonders for our distorted (obscene?) cap allocation to the O-line.  

Proctor (22)

Lew (54)

I've seen Proctor projected to go higher so im guessing he could be an option at 19 if they don't like the options at defense. Likewise with the center it appears he's an option in the second. 

[strato]

It would be something to go yet another year with no 1st put into the defense. I think that would make 6. 6 years without a 1st rounder for the defense. 
 

And we seem to be fuging stuck 

[TheSpecialJuan]

7 hours ago, strato said:

In The Athletic today:

 

The Panthers will let all of their free agents test the market. The list includes running back Rico Dowdle, who will not be returning to Charlotte unless he finds little interest following back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The Panthers want to bring back a pair of offensive linemen — center Cade Mays and swing tackle Yosh Nijman, who would start while Ikem Ekwonu recovers from patellar tendon surgery. Mays is expected to land a deal in the $8 million-a-year range. Nijman would come considerably cheaper. Even if the Panthers re-sign Nijman, look for Morgan to draft an offensive lineman for the first time since replacing Scott Fitterer in 2024. A tackle is in play for the Panthers with the 19th pick. — Joseph Person

———-

I interpret that as saying they want to get Nijman in the fold and try to upgrade from him in the draft.  

It makes sense to let all of our UFAs test the market—none of them are true “must-re-sign” players. We’d like to have Cade Mays back, but he gave us average play at center last season, and that’s a position the team can realistically look to upgrade

[bythenbrs]

7 hours ago, Jon Snow said:

I've seen Proctor projected to go higher so im guessing he could be an option at 19 if they don't like the options at defense. Likewise with the center it appears he's an option in the second. 

Lew is ranked as the first or second center in this draft.  Proctor is, what, fourth or fifth ranked tackle?  Admittedly, it's hard to compare across different positions and make judgments on relative value.  Morgan may very well take the BPA defender at 19 and Lew in the second.  Lew might be capable of starting (yes, it might look ugly for a game or two), where Proctor would certainly struggle if asked to start at LT and be asked to protect BY's blind side.  But I'm just a retired numbers guy so, what do I know?

[bythenbrs]

7 hours ago, strato said:

It would be something to go yet another year with no 1st put into the defense. I think that would make 6. 6 years without a 1st rounder for the defense. 
 

And we seem to be fuging stuck 

Yeah, Ickey's injury threw a wrench into the works for sure.  I can see a scenario where Morgan resigns Nijman and goes BPA defense at 19.

[strato]

26 minutes ago, bythenbrs said:

Yeah, Ickey's injury threw a wrench into the works for sure.  I can see a scenario where Morgan resigns Nijman and goes BPA defense at 19.

I can see that too. I am keeping in mind that we may have two shots, another next year. 
A guy taken this year could become ROT maybe as soon as next season. So maybe there is a second round guy if they don’t like the options at 19. 

ps I would understand if they hesitate to jump in with both feet for LOT until they have a definitive take on if Icky can come back.  

Edited 12 minutes ago by strato